Eea2 - Right To Work

Hi, I would be grateful if someone could please give me some advice as I really do not know where to turn to any more. My partner is non-EU and applied for an EEA2 unmarried partner visa in February 2012. He applied for EEA2 before his previous Tier 1 visa had expired. When applying we were told by HO that my partner would retain his right to work as he applied for EEA2 before his previous visa expired. Unfortunately, we did not get this in writing. In August 2012 we received a response from HO rejecting my partner's visa application as they were not satisfied our relationship was durable. We appealed this decision and during a hearing in court in November the representative of HO stated that they are withdrawing their decision to reject the application as there was plenty of evidence that our relationship was durable and that such a decision should have never been issued. So now we are waiting for HO to issue a new decision, which of course they do not know when they will do. However, what is worse, in August 2012 before we have even submitted our appeal to the court, HO informed my partner's employer that he did not have the right to work and that he did not have the right to work even when his application for the EEA2 visa was being processed. As a result of this, my partner's employment was terminated and he was accused of lying. We have been trying to get a clarification from HO since August and have written about 15 letters to them asking for an explanation and clarification but to no avail. Has anyone had a similar experience or does anyone know if my partner has the right to work while the visa application is being processed?

When applying we were told by HO that my partner would retain his right to work as he applied for EEA2 before his previous visa expired.

I was not aware that Section 3C rights were afforded when applying for an EEA residence card? You are abandoning the UK immigration rules and relying on EU freedom of movement laws. I don't think the rights of your previous leave under the UK rules are being retained while you wait for the outcome of your EEA2 application.

EU rules are not my strong suit but I remember seeing somewhere that you don't get an automatic right to work with a pending durable partnership application. Perhaps someone could confirm or refute this.

This is what we were told by HO. Thinking about it, how it can be that people who apply under EU law are at disadvantage compared to people who apply under UK law. From my perspective that would classify as discrimination as UKBA would discriminate people who are EU citizens and apply under EU law against their own, who can apply under UK immigration law. This is just my sense of justice speaking here.

Well, the truth is that the those who apply under EU rules are very much at an advantage, but asking or expecting to continue to be treated under UK rules while waiting the outcome of an non-UK application that may or may not be granted is not logical. You've entered another path and have to accept that.

Thank to everyone for your responses. Now I understand that even if one applies before his previous visa expires his rights to work are not automatically extended until a final decision is made. My partner's rights expired once his Tier one visa came to an end while our EEA2 application was being processed. Not sure why HO told us something completely different initially.